Table 2.
Description of Participants' Demographic and Health Characteristics by Food Security Status
| All (n = 610) |
Food Secure (n = 135) |
Household Insecure (n = 74) |
Adult Insecure (n = 102) |
Child Insecure (n = 299) |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Demographic characteristics | |||||
| Age1 | 39.9 ± 14.4 | 38.6 ± 13.8 | 36.9 ± 13.0 | 43.9 ± 18.4 | 39.8 ± 13.1 |
| (37) | (36) | (35.5) | (40) | (38) | |
| Race/ethnicity | |||||
| Mexican | 61.8 | 48.1 | 55.4 | 64.7 | 68.6***† |
| Mexican American | 27.5 | 37.0 | 20.3 | 26.5 | 25.4* |
| Marital status | |||||
| Married | 60.0 | 58.5 | 63.5 | 51.0 | 62.9 |
| Country of birth | |||||
| Mexico | 67.7 | 51.1 | 60.8 | 73.5 | 74.9***† |
| Education2 | |||||
| <7th grade | 31.8 | 20.6 | 22.2 | 35.0 | 38.2***† |
| 7th-11th grade | 32.8 | 29.8 | 38.9 | 40.2 | 30.2 |
| High school graduate | 35.4 | 49.6 | 38.9 | 24.7 | 31.6***† |
| Household composition1 | |||||
| Adults | 1.9 ± 0.7 | 1.9 ± 0.6 | 1.9 ± 0.6 | 1.7 ± 0.6 | 2.0 ± 0.7* |
| (2) | (2) | (2) | (2) | (2) | |
| Children3 | 2.5 ± 1.4 | 2.2 ± 1.3 | 2.4 ± 1.3 | 2.7 ± 2.2 | 2.6 ± 1.3** |
| (2) | (2) | (2) | (2) | (2) | |
| Total | 3.9 ± 1.8 | 3.7 ± 1.7 | 4.1 ± 1.6 | 3.1 ± 2.3 | 4.3 ± 1.7***† |
| (4) | (4) | (4) | (2) | (4) | |
| Single parent household3 | 14.7 | 15.6 | 13.6 | 18.0 | 13.9 |
| Poverty status4 | |||||
| Income data not | 25.4 | 24.4 | 28.4 | 19.6 | 27.1 |
| reported | |||||
| ≤ 75% FPL | 63.9 | 50.4 | 62.2 | 66.7 | 69.6***† |
| 76%-100% FPL | 8.4 | 19.3 | 6.8 | 10.8 | 3.0***† |
| >100% FPL | 2.3 | 5.9 | 2.7 | 2.9 | 0.3***† |
| Employment status | |||||
| Female | |||||
| Unemployed | 51.5 | 48.9 | 71.6 | 58.8 | 45.1 |
| Part-time | 22.0 | 18.5 | 12.2 | 18.6 | 27.1 |
| Full-time | 26.6 | 32.6 | 16.2 | 22.5 | 27.8** |
| Male | |||||
| Unemployed | 60.0 | 49.6 | 39.2 | 71.6 | 65.9***† |
| Part-time | 14.3 | 8.1 | 27.0 | 18.6 | 12.4 |
| Full-time | 25.7 | 42.2 | 33.8 | 9.8 | 21.7***† |
| Food assistance program | |||||
| SNAP | 55.1 | 45.2 | 74.3 | 52.9 | 55.5 |
| Days SNAP benefits | 20.1 ± 8.0 | 22.8 ± 8.1 | 21.0 ± 7.6 | 19.8 ± 8.9 | 18.8 ± 7.6***† |
| last5 | (21) | (21) | (21) | (21) | (21) |
| WIC3 | 42.8 | 35.8 | 57.6 | 50.0 | 40.5 |
| School breakfast3 | 53.9 | 68.8 | 69.7 | 42.0 | 45.9***† |
| School lunch3 | 54.1 | 68.8 | 69.7 | 42.0 | 46.3***† |
| Health characteristics | |||||
| Diabetes | 24.6 | 26.7 | 18.9 | 25.5 | 24.7 |
| Body mass index (kg/m2)6 | |||||
| Normal (<25) | 30.3 | 40.2 | 26.0 | 32.3 | 26.4** |
| Overweight (25-29.9) | 35.0 | 31.5 | 37.0 | 33.3 | 36.6 |
| Obese (≥ 30) | 34.7 | 28.3 | 37.0 | 34.3 | 36.9 |
1 Data presented as mean ± SD (median)
2 Education data provided by 588 participants
3 Data based on 484 households with children residing in the household
4 Household income data provided by 455 participants
5 Mean ± SD (median) based on those who received SNAP benefits
6 Height and weight data provided by 594 participants
Statistical significance in trend across categories of increasing food insecurity: *p≤0.05 **p≤0.01 ***p≤0.001
† Statistically significant after Bonferroni adjustment for multiple comparisons p ≤ 0.002